I am no longer a part of Stack Exchange. I still have much literal and figurative stock in the success of Stack Exchange, of course, but as of March 1st I will no longer be part of the day to day operations of the company, or the Stack Exchange sites, in any way. It's been almost exactly 4 ...

As with any learning, there's the instructional part and the "you have to go do it" part. Some people want a lot of instruction, some don't. Some people use instruction as a crutch (those who are addicted to self-help books), some don't. Some self-help authors are more hype the help, and some offer genuine value to the lives of their readers.
Ultimately, improving your life is up to you. It can't happen by reading a book alone, just like you can't learn programming by reading a book alone. You have to do it. Some books help. But you still need action.